Appointments

Make an appointment by visiting our Consulting Room.

Appointments can be made in the following ways:

If you’re not currently registered for our online services you can complete our registration form.

We offer telephone appointments and face to face appointments. Telephone appointments are useful if you want advice and do not need to be examined.

For minor illness, reception is able to book an appointment with the minor illness nurse.

Can I see any doctor?

You may ask to see a specific doctor when you call. If that doctor is not available on the day you will be offered an alternative doctor or advised when that doctor is available.

How do I make an appointment for a Home Visit?

When requesting a home visit, a member of our home visiting team will call you back and will discuss your problems with you and decide if you need a visit, and if so, who is the best member of our clinical team to visit you. Please request visits before 11.00 otherwise your visit may be delayed or deferred until the next working day. If your visit is urgent please ensure you tell the Receptionist

Are telephone appointments safe?

During your call with the doctor, he or she will ask questions to help them make a decision about whether you need to be seen in person or not. For example, if the doctor thinks that you need to be seen, he or she will make an appointment for you to come to the surgery.

I’m not comfortable telling the receptionist what is wrong, do I have to?

Knowing what your health problem generally helps the staff at the surgery to make sure those people with more urgent problems are seen quickly. However, you don’t have to tell the receptionist what is wrong. If you are not comfortable talking about your health problem simply say you would rather not and the receptionist will respect your wishes.

If you’re not currently registered for our online services you can complete our registration form.

If you have any special requirements when attending the surgery please advise reception, for example if you have a special need, or would prefer a chaperone to be in attendance.

There are parking spaces close to the main entrance for those who hold Car Blue Badge Scheme permits. There is a ramp access. There is a toilet for those with mobility difficulties which also has baby changing facilities. If you need to be seen in a downstairs consulting room or would like to have a chaperone present during your consultation please let the receptionist know when you book your appointment.

To help you to know when to ring to speak to your ‘usual’ doctor for routine issues, please see below. Please note this does not take into account annual leave/study leave.

Arriving at your Appointment

Unfortunately, traffic can be very heavy in Leighton Buzzard at certain times and car parking facilities have limited spaces. If possible please find alternative parking so these spaces are available for the elderly, less mobile and parents with sick children. It would help us greatly if you planned to arrive on time for your appointment or let us know if you have been delayed. On arrival, you may choose either to check in at reception, or, for greater speed, use our touch screen booking-in system which can save you waiting at the reception desk. These are situated just inside the entrance and at reception.

Regrettably, if you are more than 10 minutes late for your appointment, we may have to ask you to re-book. If our doctors or nurses are running more than 15 minutes late, reception will let you know on your arrival.

Cancelling Your Appointment

If you can’t keep your appointment, please let us know as soon as possible, either by using our online services or by telephoning the practice so that we can make the appointment available to another patient. Wasting valuable appointments can severely affect the quality of care, speed of access and choice for our patients.

We cannot stress enough the importance of cancelling your appointment if you are unable to attend or no longer need it. Currently an average of 400 appointments are wasted each month because people do not turn up. This means that you may have had to wait longer for your appointment and your care has been delayed because of it.